유아의 성별에 따른 놀이성이 사회적 기술에 미치는 영향

The Effect of Playfulness on the Social Skills of Young Children : A Study of Gender Differences

This study examined gender differences of the effect of playfulness on the social skills of young children. The subjects were 242 4- to 6-year-old children at five nursery schools and kindergartens. Results showed that playfulness influenced social skills of young children. In particular, young children's playfulness was a more effective variable of assertion than self-control, cooperation and responsibility. Cognitive spontaneity and social spontaneity were the most effective variable of social skills. Playfulness had variable influences on social skills by gender: Among boys, playfulness was a less effective variable of cooperation than the other variables of social skills. Among girls, playfulness was a less effective variable of self-control than other variables of social skills.